measuring of Arctic ocean water ice at the end of this summertime are the second lowest since modern disk - safekeeping began in the 1970s , according to freshly released preliminary determination .
According toNASAand the National Snow and Ice Data Center ( NSIDC ) , Arctic sea level extent ( the area of ocean covered by frosting ) is tied with 2007 and 2016 for second lowest , just behind the record minimum set in 2012 . An depth psychology of satellite data shows the 2019 lower limit extent measure 4.15 million square km ( 1.6 million square miles ) as of last week .
“ This year ’s minimum sea ice extent shows that there is no sign that the sea crank binding is rebounding , ” said Claire Parkinson , a climate deepen older scientist at NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center , in astatement . “ The long - term trend for Arctic ocean ice extent has been definitively down . But in late years , the extent is low enough that weather conditions can either make that particular year ’s extent into a unexampled record low or keep it within the radical of the lowest . ”
Ice float on top of the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas expands and inspissate during the fall and winter and thins during the spring and summertime , but in past decades , increase temperature have resulted in less sea ice throughout the year with speedy reduction observed at the end of the summertime . Researchers say 2019 was an “ interesting thawing time of year ” as we saw a rapid going in July that slowed substantially up until the middle of August . Even so , August was at a book low for that time of year .
” But unlike 2012 , the class with the low meth extent on record , which see a muscular August cyclone that smashed the crank cover and accelerate its decline , the 2019 melt time of year did n’t see any extreme weather events,”saidWalt Meier , a sea ice researcher at NSIDC .
Even though the Arctic saw warm than common temperatures – an average of 4 to 5 ° C ( 7 to 9 ° F ) above normal – sea shabu extent was not significantly impacted by thesevere Arctic wildfireseason , record mellow temperaturesor even theEuropean heatwave .
“ By the meter the Siberian fires kicked into high gear in late July , the Sun was already getting low in the Arctic , so the effect of the lampblack from the fires darkening the sea ice surface was n’t that large , ” explained Meier . “ As for the European heatwave , it definitely affected land ice release in Greenland and also cause a spike in melt along Greenland ’s east coast , but that ’s an area where ocean ice is being ravish down the coast and melting reasonably quickly anyway . ”
NSIDC is quick to note that this is only a preliminary announcement and “ changing winds or late - season melt could still boil down the Arctic ice extent . " The agency will give up a full analytic thinking of the Arctic melt season early next month .
